blue_dolphin

Might be just as well, at least for your Canadian giftees. Most of my Canadian friends have either a revered family buttertart recipe or a strong memory of the ideal buttertart that nothing else can ever measure up to. As a non-Canadian, I wouldn't mind trying a few of those non-buttertarts 🙃

I live in the Conejo Valley in So Cal. I may need to try this one!

I've been drinking this 2019 Ténèbres from TJ's for little while. It's a French GSM but instead of being from the Rhône valley, this one is from farther south in the Languedoc. Only $5.99. Very drinkable and worth a try if you like Rhône varietals. They had cases of it on an end cap for a while but it's now moved to a spot on the shelves with the other French reds. I should pick up a few more bottles. Something I will not be picking up again is the TJ's frozen pie crust. I'd sworn these off before but in the interest of limiting shopping trips, I picked up a package of them the other day. Still as broken as my previous experiences. I let this one thaw 24 hrs in the fridge and 1 hr at room temp. Frozen pie crust is supposed to be a time saver, not a craft project! Too bad as it's a tender, buttery crust with a reasonable list of ingredients. I'll go back to the doughboy 🙃

A while back, I mentioned that I was curious what Herbdacious would be like with more dill. I made a batch and it's good but it's not quite as flexible a condiment as the original recipe. I was going to make a smoked salmon and cream cheese quiche with dill so I decided to just add some of that Herbdacious to the custard. 😮 oh my, it's green...it's absolutely Herbdacious! There's a bunch of skinny asparagus in there, too. I was worried it might be stringy, but it was fine. This tasted quite good but I'm not sure I'd make a green quiche to serve to others! The crust was a frozen one from Trader Joe's which required as much patchwork as an Amish quilt. I'd sworn them off because of similar problems in the past but in the interest of limiting shopping trips, I picked up a package of them the other day. No more!

Enjoy! I have the 20 and 25 cm paella pans and am always tempted to get a few of those little 15's. Would be good for single servings but perhaps a little heavy for earrings! 🤣

Just watched Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, a documentary about Ottolenghi's 2018 commission from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to put on a culinary gala in conjunction with their Versailles exhibit. Ottolenghi recruits Dominique Ansel, Ghaya Oliveira, executive pastry chef at Daniel in NY, fancy UK jelly makers Bompas and Parr, Ukrainian architect/baker Dinara Kasko and Janice Wong, a pastry chef/chocolatier/creator of edible art from Singapore as the artists who will use their own techniques to reimagine the fabulous pastries of pre-revolution era Versailles. I would have loved a whole hour on each artist to better see what they were doing but it's still excellent eye candy! Here's a trailer. I watched the film on Hulu.

I agree on the podcast recommendation. I thought I'd heard it all because he's been all over the place but hearing the whole story was interesting. Pricing was one of the things they went into. None of the big companies were interested in taking on the project without a commitment to enormous batch sizes so he partnered with a smaller, artisan-type pasta maker. They ended up pricing the cascatelli at $4.99/lb, lower than any of that company's other offerings at $5.99-7.99/lb. I'd guess most buyers are already at least occasional purchasers of Italian or other artisan pasta in those price ranges or are willing to fork out the premium over something like De Cecco. It could turn up on Amazon (doesn't everything?🙃 ) but I doubt it will be battling Ronzoni for low price leader at Walmart. I was going to wait until the hubbub died down but a couple weeks ago I decided to go ahead and order. Still got a couple of months to wait.

Darto keychain pan I've been wanting one of these for ages. Maybe 2 for earrings? So cute!

In my post above on recent acquisitions, I want to call out 2 books by Max Halley, owner of Max's Sandwich Shop in London. I ordered them after listening to a Zoom author event hosted by cookbook shop NowservingLA in support of his recently published Max's Picnic Book. Max was interviewed by Zach Brooks, market manager of Smorgasburg LA. Max is an absolute hoot and didn't really need an interviewer. I was laughing out loud through most of it. An archived version of the Zoom session can be accessed at this link or on Nowserving's recorded events page here. Here's the publisher's blurb on the book: If it's a fraction as entertaining as the interview, it will be a very fun read. There's a preview of the book available here on Eat Your Books. Here's a video of Max making the Make a Ham, Egg, and Chips Sandwich from his shop. https://youtu.be/fsnSvcnrTJM

My 2021 cookbook acquisitions thus far, some are older books and a few not arrived yet. Not mentioning several pre-orders. Yes, I have a problem 🙃 2021 books: At Home in the Kitchen: Simple Recipes from a Chef's Night Off (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by David Kinch and Devin Fuller Max's Picnic Book: An ode to the art of picnicking (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Max Halley Mister Jiu's in Chinatown: Recipes and Stories from the Birthplace of Chinese American Food (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Brandon Jew and Tienlon Ho Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Julia Turshen Zoë Bakes Cakes: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Favorite Layers, Bundts, Loaves, and More (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Zoë François Kato - 8 Mistakes We Made For You (Jon Yao) Sonoratown - The Road Less Traveled (Jen Feltham,Teo Diaz) 2020 books: I Cook in Color: Bright Flavors from My Kitchen and Around the World (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Asha Gomez not a fan of this one, I will donate it shortly. Koji Alchemy: Rediscovering the Magic of Mold-Based Fermentation (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Rich Shih & Jeremy Umansky Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Claire Saffitz Older books: Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Nigel Slater Julia Child & More Company (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Julia Child Max's Sandwich Book: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Perfection Between Two Slices of Bread (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)by Max Halley

Thanks from me, too. I will certainly give this method a try. Sounds like a promising way to avoid my usual problem of overcooked eggs when I make shakshuka-type things.

@Smithy, in either direction, did you note any Covid-linked differences in border crossing protocols? Were you driving or is there a pedestrian crossing? And sign me up for the glassware club!

Thanks for taking us along once again. Love the combination of take-out and home...er...rental-cooked meals and as always, your photographs are amazing!

I do like the wine glass there in the background. Always nice to have a sip while you unpack!

Quiche du yesterjour

Quiche du jour Asparagus, mushroom, onion and red bell pepper

Yesterday, when I went out to Roan Mills for bread, they had some sausages for sale in their freezer case. I bought some strikingly pink ones that had beets listed among the ingredients. Should have waited until I had some proper rolls but had to give into my curiosity and enjoyed one on lightly toasted bread with grainy mustard and caramelized onions.

That's especially understandable after that last pizza pie! When I go over to Roan Mills, I can't resist trying one if they have some thing I haven't had yet.

Two more savory hand pies from Roan Mills. Lamb: The filling was mostly ground lamb with leeks, dried cherries and a bit of carrot. I debated adding some cherry mustard from the fridge but by the time I'd settled on it, I'd polished off the whole thing. Pulled pork: I had this one a while ago and I can't remember exactly what was in the filling. Mostly pork. It was very tasty.

Not sure if you're still enroute but if so, safe travels and, as always, thanks for taking us along!

It's true there's not much of a selection of French butter in the average US grocery store but speciality shops offer more. The one I shop at has Bordier (about a dozen flavors/sizes), Echire, Isigny Ste Mère, Le Gall, and Sèvre & Belle.

I got my first vaccine dose yesterday in Ventura, a few miles away from the only WinCo in my area so I went in to take a look. Verified the whole frozen ducks as mentioned by @Toliver. They were $2.99/lb. Also the goat meat, lamb legs, pork belly and frozen head-on prawns that @David Ross mentioned were all there along with beef soup bones and both pork and beef neck bones. The bulk section is indeed huge, though right now, it's all pre-bagged. I liked the way much of the produce was set out right in the shipping boxes rather than being arranged into artful piles by store staff. Less handling and potential for bruising. It's a huge store and I didn't take the time to go through everything but I'll go back again. Thanks all for bringing it up! Like I said, I'd never heard of it before.

I would also be delighted to receive a wonderful butter with a great loaf of bread, cornbread or the like. The nice thing about butter, assuming it’s wrapped well to protect it from picking up odors, is that it keeps in the freezer for a long time. I like to keep some of those small bars of Bordier butter in the freezer so I can make up a little basket with bread and butter to go along with jars of marmalade or jam that I’ve made. Always very well received.

The Aldi that recently opened near me offers delivery via Instacart and curbside pick-up. That said, I’m not familiar enough with their offerings to order sight-unseen.

Another option I should have mentioned, especially if you are concerned about a high alcohol burn, is to just infuse the zest into a vodka you find acceptable, maybe giving it a bit longer if you are going with a lower proof option. Then, just strain and add your sweetener to taste rather than diluting further with additional vodka. You can add a little water if it's still too "hot" but I'd let it sit a while before you decide if that's needed. I went that route using lime zest and tequila and got a nice result.